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1.1 Overview of Information Technology

TOPIC 1.0 :
INTRODUCTION TO
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
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At the end of this topic, students should be
able to:
Explain Information Technology
Discuss the applications of Information
Technology
Explain different categories of computers
Learning Outcomes:
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Definition of Information Technology
The use of computer hardware and software to
store, retrieve, and manipulate information.
http://www.mariosalexandrou.com/definition.asp
- http://ccs.mit.edu/21c/iokey.html
computer hardware
and software
information store, retrieve &
manipulate
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The study, design, development, implementation
support or management of computer-based
information systems.
- Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)
Definition of Information Technology
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Advantages :
Speed
When data, instructions, and information flow along
electronic circuits in a computer, they travel at
incredibly fast speeds. Many computers process
billions or trillions of operations in a single second.
Reliability
The electronic components in modern computers are
dependable and reliable because they rarely break or
fail.
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Advantages :
Consistency
Given the same input and processes, a computer will
produce the same results consistently.
Storage
A computer can transfer data quickly from storage to
memory, process it, and then store it again for future
use. Many computers store enormous amounts of
data and make this data available for processing
anytime it is needed.
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Advantages :
Communications
Most computers today can communicate with other
computers, often wirelessly. Computers with this
capability can share any of the four information
processing cycle operations with another computer or
a user.
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Advantages :
Increase efficiency and effectiveness
IT hepls employees to increase their capability in the
work place. With the helps of IT, employees can key
in data into different types of software to process and
produce result in minute.
Improves communication
IT can connect users in different locations all over the
world. E-mail and instant messages have made online
communication possible. Social networking and
blogging websites and online discussion forums have
proved being popular platform of expression.
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Advantages :
Boosts nation's economy
The improvement of IT has encouraged the creation and
development of E-commerce where people and
organizations performing online trading.
Improve the quality of life
The use of Internet allow users to be online without
difficulty. Access of information become easier. 3D
technology, television and digital camera has enabled
humans to live comfortably.
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Disadvantages :
Violation of privacy
Personal and confidential records were not protected
properly, individuals have found their privacy violated and
identities stolen.
Public safety
Sharing publicly the photos, videos, and other personel
information could trap the computer users into crimes
comitted by dangerous strangers.
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Advantages and disadvantages of
Information Technology
Disadvantages :
Impact on labour force
Although IT has improved productivity in many ways and
created hundred of thousands of new jobs, the skills of
millions employees itself have been replaced by
computers.
Impact on the environment
Computer manufacturing processess and computer
waste are depleting natural resources and polluting the
environment.
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Education
Finance
Government
Health Care
Science
Publishing
Travel
Manufacturing
Applications of Information Technology
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Assists
educators and
learners in
teaching and
learning process.
Education
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Application of IT in Education :
Self Access Learning
Distance Education
Smart Schools
Educational Portals
Edutainment
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Education : Self Access Learning
Learning process using CD, DVD or via the Internet.
Educators create materials and upload to the Internet.
Learners download materials from the Internet.
Example:
Online tuition
e Test
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The educator and learner in physically separate
locations but can communicate via video
conferencing, e-mails and bulletin boards.
Student can apply Self Access Learning, learn at
their own time and pace.
Education : Distance Education
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Uses information technology as the basis for
teaching and learning.
The computer is expected to be used in
educational management, evaluation and in
teaching and learning.
Stress on the development of student
potential as individuals through the benefits
received from ICT.
Education : Smart School
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Students will be exposed to computer usage and
teaching materials will also be in electronic form.
The teacher plays the role of facilitator while the
students themselves determine their own level of
learning according to their own capabilities.
Education : Smart School
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Education : Educational Portal
A gateway to education that is suitable for use by
students.
Provides a lot of useful information especially to
students who will be sitting for important
examinations such as UPSR, PMR, and SPM.
Example : Tutor Utusan
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Education : Edutainment
A multimedia application which combines the
elements of education and entertainment in a
single package.
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Finance
To help manage their finance.
Finance software to balance checkbooks, pay
bills, track personal income and expenses,
manage investment, and evaluate financial
plans.
Improving productivity, competitiveness and
profitability.
Help company to promote their product and
services.
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Applications in Finance
Online Banking
Electronic Payment System (EPS)
Online Investing
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Finance : Online Banking
Users can access account balances, pay
bills and view monthly transactions.
Examples:
BankIslam.biz
Maybank2u
Cimbclicks.
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Finance : Online Banking
Maybank2u.com Features :
View
Account Balance
Transfer
History
Pay bills
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Finance : Online Investing
Investors buy and sells stocks and bond
without using a broker.
The transaction fee for each trade usually is
much less than when trading through a broker.
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Government
Government Web sites provide
citizens with up-to-date
information.
People can file taxes, apply for
permits and licenses, pay
parking ticket, buy stamps,
report crimes, and renew
vehicle registration and driver's
license.
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Applications in Government
e-Filing
HRMIS
e-penyata
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Government : e-Filing
Online system for declaring tax.
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Government : HRMIS
Online system for updating government
employee information.
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Government : e-penyata
Online system that allow users to view and
print pay slip.
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Health Care
The medical staffs around us will be using
computers for various purposes.
Applications :
Telemedicine
Telesurgery
Medline
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Health Care
To maintain and access patient records.
Monitor patients' vital signs in hospital room.
Doctors use e-mail to correspond with
patients.
Pharmacists use computers to file insurance
claims.
Surgeons implant computerized devices, such
as pacemakers, that allow patients to live
longer.
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Health Care : Telemedicine
The practice of medicine through the use of all
forms of data, visual and audio
communication.
Health-care professionals in separate
locations conduct live conferences on the
computer.
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Telemedicine
Several new hospitals such as UKM Hospital,
Putrajaya Hospital, Selayang Hospital and
Putrajaya Clinic possess comprehensive
facilities that can effectively apply tele-
medicine.
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Several new hospitals such as UKM Hospital,
Putrajaya Hospital, Selayang Hospital and
Putrajaya Clinic possess comprehensive facilities
that can effectively apply tele-medicine.
Telemedicine
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Health Care : Telesurgery
A surgeon perform an operation on a patient who is
not located in the same physical room as the
surgeon.
Enables surgeons to direct robots to perform an
operation via computers connected to a high-speed
network.
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Health Care : MedlinePlus
A free Web site that provides consumer health
information for patients, families, and Health care
providers.
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Science
All branches of science use IT to assist them
with collecting, analyzing and modeling data.
Applications:
Neural network
Virtual Reality
Cochlear Implant
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Science : Neural Network
A system that attempt to imitate the behavior of
human brain.
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Science : Virtual Reality
Computer use to simulate a real or imagined
environment that appears as 3 dimensional
space.
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Science : Cochlear Implant
Help user in hearing problem.
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Publishing
Publishing is the process of making works
available to the public
Special software assists graphic designers in
developing pages.
Many publishers make their works available
online.
Applications:
Digital Newspaper
Digital Magazine
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Publishing
The use of special software that assists:
graphic designers in developing pages that
include text, graphic, and photos;
artists in composing an enhancing songs;
film makers in creating an editing film;
journalists in capturing and modifying video
clips.
The use of website to make their works
available online.
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Publishing : Digital Newspaper
People can read newspaper online.
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Publishing : Digital Magazine
People can read magazine online.
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Travel
Latest technology have help in making travel
convenient.
Applications:
Car Navigation System by Global Positioning
System (GPS)
Automatic roaming
Online reservation
Air Traffic Control
Automatic Toll Payment System
Ticket Reservation System
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Travel : Global Positioning System (GPS)
Help users to track routes for specific location.
Combined technology of locating, mapping
and route guidance of cars.
The location of the car is estimated by a GPS
receiver.
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Travel : Automatic Roaming
Telecommunication companies provides
automatic roaming for travelers to travel
abroad.
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Travel : Online Reservation
Transportation and accommodation reservation
can be done through website.
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Travel : Air Traffic Control
The workers in airport tower
rely on computers to help
monitor air traffic.
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Manufacturing
Latest technology have help in making
manufacturing process more effective.
Applications:
Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)
Bar Code System
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Manufacturing : Computer-Aided
Manufacturing (CAM)
The use of computers to assist with
manufacturing processes such as fabrication
and assembly.
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Manufacturing : Computer-Aided
Manufacturing (CAM)
Industries use CAM to:
reduce product development costs,
shorten a product's time to market, and
stay ahead of the competition
CAM used in:
Oil drilling
Power generation
Food production
Automobile manufacturing
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Manufacturing : Bar Code System
Bar coded and can be read by the computer
scanner to help in determining prices and
managing inventory.
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Chapter Summary
Discuss the applications of IT:
Education
Finance
Government
Health Care
Science
Publishing
Travel
Manufacturing
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Categories of computers:
Supercomputers
Mainframes
Personel Computers
Mobile Computers and Mobile Devices
Embedded Computers
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Supercomputers
A supercomputer is the fastest, most powerful computer.
The physical size of supercomputer full room of equipment.
Fastest supercomputers are capable of processing more than
one quadrillion instructions in a single second
With weights that exceeds 100 tons, these computer can store
more than 20000 times the data and information of an
average desktop computers.
Applications requiring complex, sophisticated mathematical
calculations use supercomputers. Large scale simulations and
applications in medicine, aerospace, automotive design,
online banking, whether forecasting, nuclear energy research
and petroleum exploration use a supercomputer.
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Supercomputers
IBMs Blue Gene is one of the
fastest computers in the world.
OLeary/OLeary, Computing Essentials 2012:
Making IT work for you, p. 11
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Mainframes
A large, expensive, powerful computer that can
handle hundreds or thousands of connected users
simultaneously (multi- user).
Shelly Cashman, Discovering Computers:
Living in a Digital World 2011, p. 25
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Mainframe computers are typically:
Large:
physically large partial room to a full room of
equipment; often kept in special, air-conditioned
rooms
Powerful:
stores tremendous amounts of data, instructions &
information
used by large organizations for bill millions of
customers, prepare payroll for thousand of
employees, and manage thousand of items in
inventory
Mainframes
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Mainframes
Mainframe computers are typically:
Multi-user:
allow several users to use the
computer at the same time,
connected through remote
terminals (screens and
keyboards)
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Personal Computers
A personal computer or also known as
microcomputer is a computer that can perform all of its
input, processing, output, and storage activities by itself
It is least powerful, but the most widely used and fastest
growing type of computer
This computer can fits on the desk or tables and prove
to be the best choice for single user tasks.
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Personal Computers
Examples of personal computer:
Desktop
Laptop
Tablet PC
Netbook
Handheld computers
Smartphones
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Personal Computers
Common applications in personal computer include word
processing, spreadsheet calculations, database
management, creating or editing photographs or graphics,
browsing the Internet, retrieving email and playing music,
videos and games.
Modern personal computers often have connections to the
Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and wide
range of other resources.
Personal computers maybe connected to local area network
(LAN), either by a cable or wireless connection.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/different-types-of-computers.html
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Mobile Computers and Mobile Devices
Mobile Computers Mobile Devices
Personal computer you can
carry fromplace to place.
Computing device small enough
to hold in your hand.
Physical size fits on your lap
or in your hand.
Physical size fits on your lap or
in your hand.
Examples : notebook
computers, laptop computers,
netbooks, ultra-thins, and
Tablet PCs.
Examples : smart phones and
PDAs, e-book readers,
handheld computers, portable
media players, and digital
cameras.
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Mobile Computers
Notebook Computers
A notebook computer also called
a laptop computer, is a portable,
personal computer often designed to
fit on your lap.
Notebook computers are thin and
lightweight, can be as powerful as the
average desktop computer
Some notebook computers have
touch screens, allowing you to interact
by touching the screen with finger.
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Tablet PCs
a special type of notebook
computer that you can interact
with by touching the screen with
your finger or a digital pen.
it is useful especially for
taking notes in lectures, at
meetings, conferences and
other forums.
Mobile Computers
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Smartphones
Smartphone is an internet-enabled phone that provides personal
information management functions such as a calendar, an appointment
book, an address book, a calculator and a notepad.
Smartphone allows you to send and receive emails, access to the Web.
Smartphone also offer a variety of application software such as word
processing, spreadsheet and games and capability of conducting live video
conferences.
Mobile Devices
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Mobile Devices
Digital cameras
A device that allows user to
take pictures and store the
photographed images digitally.
Digital cameras usually have
some amount of internal storage
to hold images, but most users
store images on small storage
media such as memory cards.
It allows users to review and
modify images, connect and
communicate wirelessly with
computers or printers.
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Embedded Computers
An embedded computer is a special-purpose
computer that functions as a component in a
larger product
Consumer
Electronics
Mobile and digital
telephones
Digital televisions
Cameras
Video recorders
DVD players and
recorders
Answering
machines
Home Automation
Devices
Thermostats
Sprinkling systems
Security
monitoring systems
Appliances
Lights
Automobiles
Antilock brakes
Engine control
modules
Airbag controller
Cruise control
Process Controllers
and Robotics
Remote monitoring
systems
Power monitors
Machine
controllers
Medical devices
Computer Devices
and Office Machines
Keyboards
Printers
Faxes
Copiers
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Embedded Computers
Some of the embedded computers designed to improve your safety, security and performance in todays
automobiles
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PSPM Model Questions
1. Explain how IT can benefit education
2. (a) State two (2) fields of application of Information
Technology
(b) List two (2) examples of application for each of the
fields mentioned above
(c) Discuss the application of IT in any of the field above
3. Give three (3) examples of application on Information
Technology
4. List four (4) applications of IT in our daily life
5. Identify and explain one (1) way IT can be leveraged in
banking.